Data Generation

The video from the beginning of class today about the new Data Generation brought up a point that I was not aware of previously. The video pointed out that by reading the New York Times for 1 full week, one would present the brain with more information than previous generations would have received in a lifetime. Prior to this generation a person had a considerable amount of time to process new information before receiving another new piece of data. Our brains are now trained from birth to receive exponential amounts of data and process it instantaneously, so that when the next information comes out we are ready to receive and process all over again. This creates a generation gap between teachers and students because teachers must train their brains on how to process all of this data, while students are born with the expectation of processing it. This reinforces the importance of the principal providing leadership and professional development in technology for the teachers to help them adjust to processing all of the current data and technology relevant to classroom learning. Even though students can process the data faster, the teacher is still vital to each student's learning because the teachers introduces concepts and inspires students to discover more on their own.  By showing teachers how well technology and teaching can go hand-in-hand, a principal can create a shared vision for technology and empower the entire school community.